Kathmandu — Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) leader and former Education Minister Sumana Shrestha has announced her resignation from the party, expressing strong dissatisfaction with its leadership.
In her statement, Shrestha accused the leadership of repeatedly making mistakes and forcing the entire party to bear the consequences. She criticized the tendency to launch media trials against those who voice internal criticism.
She wrote, “From the moment the Rastriya Swatantra Party began placing the party above the country, and the leader above the party, I have been critical. But nothing changed. Instead, media trials began against me. This is unacceptable.”
Shrestha added that she is ready to face open attacks and has stepped aside to make it easier for the leadership. “Do as you wish for as long as you wish,” she concluded.
Kathmandu — The Kathmandu District Court has ordered the release of Rastriya Swatantra Party central member and environmentalist Dr. Araniko Pandey on bail.
The order was issued by Judge Dhruvaraj Karki’s bench. Pandey had been arrested on Wednesday on charges of verbally abusing a woman through social media. The court had earlier extended his custody by four days for further investigation.
Dr. Pandey joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party under Rabi Lamichhane’s leadership in August 2022. In 2023, while the party was in government, he also served as a member of the National Planning Commission.
Kathmandu – Police have said that Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) central member Dr. Araniko Pandey, arrested on charges of verbally abusing a woman on social media, will be presented before the court today for a remand extension.
Pandey was taken into custody yesterday after a woman filed a complaint accusing him of abusing her online. He had appeared at the Cyber Bureau in connection with the case before being arrested.
Pandey is also a former member of the National Planning Commission. He joined RSP in 2079 BS. and was appointed as a member of the National Planning Commission in 2080 BS.
In a separate cybercrime case, CPN-UML central member Ain Mahar was released on Wednesday within a few hours of arrest.
Kathmandu -The UML has called an emergency parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday morning, with discussions expected on filing a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Indira Rana.
At the same time, the Nepali Congress has convened a meeting of its central committee. Immediately after the meeting, the party has summoned its lawmakers to Singha Durbar.
According to sources, a preliminary understanding to remove the Deputy Speaker for not acting according to her position was reached during a meeting on Monday evening at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluwatar, which included leaders from both Congress and UML. Participants included Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Congress Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka, and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, among others.
Both parties allege that Deputy Speaker Rana has failed to perform her duties according to official conduct. Sources also report that signatures are being collected from Congress and UML lawmakers to support the proposal for action against the Deputy Speaker, with some lawmakers having already signed as of Monday.
Earlier, a complaint against her was filed with the Parliament’s Good Governance Committee alleging that Deputy Speaker Indira Rana magar misused her position and recommended visa interviews to non-parliamentarians at the American Embassy in Kathmandu.
Kathmandu — The opposition party RSP has started protesting immediately after the fifth session of the House of Representatives began.
As Speaker Ghimire was about to move forward with the agenda of the meeting, RSP MPs are standing up and protesting. Amidst the RSP obstruction, Speaker Devraj Ghimire read out letters received from the President’s Office and the Prime Minister’s Office.
As the Speaker proceeded with the meeting amid obstruction, RSP MPs boycotted the meeting and walked out.
RSP President Rabi Lamichhane has also requested Speaker Ghimire to lift his suspension.
At the beginning of today’s meeting, there is an agenda to inform about the letter calling the session, read out the letter from the President’s Office, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Council of Ministers’ Office, and nominate the members to preside. Similarly, at the beginning of the session, speeches will be made on a party-based basis, and the agenda includes the presentation of ordinances brought by the government in the House.
Kailali – Former Chief Minister of Sudurpaschim Province and leader of the CPN (UML) Sudurpaschim Province Assembly Parliamentary Party Rajendra Singh Rawal has been abused by RSP cadres.
On Saturday, while he was coming from Mahendranagar in Kanchanpur to Dhangadhi, RSP cadres stopped the vehicle in which Rawal was travelling at Daiji Chowk and abused him, accusing him of misusing a government vehicle.
He said that even though he had a pass and permission to travel on that day, the vehicle was deliberately stopped and abused .
Rawal’s personal secretary Raj Bahadur Chand issued a statement saying that RSP cadres stopped the vehicle and abused the driver, attempted to assault him and vandalized the vehicle. He also condemned the incident and demanded action against the culprits. Chand has demanded an investigation into the incident, saying that such abuse took place while he was travelling with permission from the Provincial Assembly Secretariat on a holiday.
Kathmandu – The MP post of Rastriya Swatantra Party President and former Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane is set to be suspended. Lamichhane’s MP post will be automatically suspended after a case filed in court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
District Attorney Kamala Kafle of the District Government Attorney’s Office, Kaski, said that Lamichhane’s post will be suspended as per the act until the final decision of the case is made.
According to Section 27 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, an employee, officer or civil servant is automatically considered suspended until the final decision of the case is made. She also said that preparations are underway to send a letter to the Parliament Secretariat regarding the filing of a case in court.
Section 27 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act provides for automatic suspension. “If any official or employee of an organization established under the prevailing law or any civil servant is detained under this Act, such employee, official or civil servant shall be deemed to have been automatically suspended for the period of such detention and until the case is resolved.”
The District Attorney’s Office, Kaski, filed a case against 31 people, including Lamichhane, in the District Court, Kaski on Sunday. Three cases have been registered against them in the Surya Darshan Cooperative fraud case in Pokhara. A case of cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering have been registered against Lamichhane, former DIG Chhabilal Joshi, Leela Pachai, Ram Bahadur Khanal and Krishna Bahadur Gurung. According to the District Court, Kaski, a case has also been filed against eight companies. Similarly, the Office of the Public Prosecutor has suggested that the assets of 5 people should be confiscated.
The police had suggested that 1.5 billion rupees be recovered from 51 people, including Lamichhane, and that they be prosecuted for cooperative fraud, organized crime and money laundering. The police investigation report states that Lamichhane will be sentenced to 4 to 6 years in prison for cooperative fraud, an additional 50 percent punishment for organized crime, and 2 to 15 years in prison and a fine for money laundering.
The District Attorney’s Office filed a supplementary charge sheet in court on Friday, adding additional offenses and amounts against 19 people accused of defrauding cooperatives last year. A case has been filed against the main mastermind of the cooperative fraud, GB Rai, for organized crime, money laundering and violations of the Rastra Bank Act.
Kathmandu – RSP has removed Dr. Mukul Dhakal from his position as General Secretary and Spokesperson.The meeting of the central committee of the RSP held today has removed Dhakal from other responsibilities of the party so that he remains only an ordinary member of the RSP.
After discussing the report of the Disciplinary Commission regarding Dhakal, the Central Committee decided to remove him from other responsibilities so that only ordinary members remain.
Dhakal was removed from the position on charges of incompetent, undisciplined, apolitical, indecent, chaotic behavior and violation of discipline in running the party.
Due to the dispute that started within the party regarding Dhakal’s review trip report, Dhakal was punished by the party, but the party did not take ownership of his report. An official of the RSP said that the report was submitted to the party and made public before the discussion.
On the other hand, Mukal Dhakal, who has been sacked from the position, said that he was expelled not from the party but from the club of Chairman Lamichhane.
April 23, Chitwan- A complaint has been lodged at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer against Rabi Lamichhane as Rastriya Swatantra Party violated the election code of conduct during the ongoing by-elections in Chitwan constituency 2.
Nepali Congress candidate Jit Narayan Shrestha’s representative Dhurvaraj Pokharel filed a complaint at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, claiming that RSP President Lamichhane influenced the voters by asking for votes through social media and online during the voting period.
The polling was disrupted for about 2 hours after the RSP activists thronged the polling station shouting slogans. Voting started after RSP apologized for violating the code of conduct and reached a four-point agreement.
It is said in the agreement, ‘It was found that a program violating the code of conduct was being conducted by the RSP during the ongoing elections.
It has also been decided to send a written notice to the Chief Election Office regarding violations of the code of conduct.
It is also mentioned in the complaint that after the dispute at Naya Kiran Mavi Bhojad polling station, the all-party meeting held with the representatives of the RSP admitted that the RSP had violated the code of conduct and recommended for the action to be taken accordingly.
The audio of Rastriya Swatantra Party MP Dhakakumar Shrestha demanding a bribe of Rs 20 million from a businessman Durga Prasai has been released.
Shrestha has been dismissed by Rastriya Swatantra Party after the audio of him asking for a bribe was released.Rastriya Swatantra Party has informed that it is ready to expel Shrestha from the party as the audio of him asking for a bribe from businessman Durga Prasai has been made public.
MP Shrestha said that he was going to become the health minister and that he had to pay money to the party to become the health minister and that he asked for a bribe from Prasai.
In this conversation that took place before the expansion of the cabinet on January 17, it was revealed that Rastriya Swatantra Party MP Dhakakumar Shrestha, who participated in the Prachanda government, asked for a bribe saying that the health ministry was under his control.
In the audio, he said, ‘ party president Rabi Lamichhane will not be seen but there are 2/3 of his outsider friends. They have said that they will give it to the party.
He asked money with Prasai and also said that they will work together. At that time, the Rastriya Swatantra Party participating in Prachanda’s government was claiming the Ministry of Health and Population. But during the expansion of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Health was taken by UML and Dr. Toshima Karki became the Minister of State for Health.
Kathmandu – The police have started an investigation into the citizenship dispute of Ravi Lamichhane, chairman of Rastriya Swatantra Party.
The police started an investigation on the complaint filed against Lamichhane with a demand for investigation and action regarding his citizenship. It is mentioned in the complaint that Lamichhane, who renounced his American citizenship, registered his party with the Election Commission using his old citizenship and submitted his old citizenship when he was a candidate.
Lamichhane himself, after renouncing his US citizenship, admitted to using his old citizenship without obtaining a new one, according to the complaint.
Kathmandu Police said that they have received a letter from the Kathmandu District Administration to investigate Lamichhane’s citizenship and the investigation has been started based on the letter.
Rastriya Swatantra Party has published the list of proportional candidates for the House of Representatives elections.
Rastriya Swatantra Party has announced the list of its candidates, which has held open early voting for the selection of candidates.
According to the party, 39 thousand 13 people voted online in the open primary election and the person who got the most votes in that process will be included in the closed list of proportional candidates.
The National Independent Party has called for a Valley convention at Khulamanch at 1 o’clock in the afternoon today.
According to the National Independent Party, the convention will form the committees of all the 3 districts in the valley and the aspiring candidates who want to establish the wave of change will speak from the same platform for the first time.
Party President Rabi Lamichhane, who announced the establishment of the party from the National Assembly in Kathmandu on Ashar 7 2079 BS, is now moving ahead with the search campaign for candidates who want to run from the National Independent Party in an upcoming election. President Lamichhane has urged everyone to attend the program and promised to establish the era of youth, the era of the capable and the era of new political culture in the country.
Provincial MP Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, environmentalist Dr. Araniko Pandey, activist Pukar Bam, youth leader Dr. Pranay Shamsher Rana, educationist Shishir Khanal will address the program today in Khulamanch.
NP
